Man Accused of Imprisoning Girlfriend

A South-Central Los Angeles man has been arrested on suspicion of torturing his girlfriend and keeping her handcuffed in a closet during working hours for 10 months.

Police said Dennis Hill, 30, was taken into custody at his home in the 4100 block of South Vermont Avenue on Thursday after the 25-year-old woman told her story at a hospital in Las Vegas, where she underwent treatment for severe injuries.

The unidentified woman told officers that she had been living with Hill in his apartment above a pawnshop, where he worked as a security guard.

She said he became jealous last February, accusing her of having an affair with another man. She said that for 10 months, he left her handcuffed in a closet in the apartment while he was at work, officers said.

On Nov. 6, she told officers, "he got mad, handcuffed her to a workbench and tortured her for three days, burning her with a cigarette lighter and cigarettes," said Officer Don Cox of the Los Angeles Police Department public affairs office. "The injuries she suffered were severe."

Cox said that after the woman promised Hill she would not report him to police, he allowed her to visit her mother in Las Vegas. She took a bus to Las Vegas, where she was admitted to a hospital for treatment of her injuries. After she told hospital officials her story, Los Angeles police were notified and Hill was arrested.

"If that's what she says happened, we're hard-pressed not to take it seriously," Cox said.

Hill was booked on suspicion of mayhem, false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon and battery, officials said. His bail was set at $130,000.